1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container specifically designed to provide for the cooking of products but is formed from a material which incorporates structural features allowing relatively larger quantities or food products to be supported therein during, before and after the cooking process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Microwave cooking has enjoyed increased popularity throughout the last twenty years. With this increased popularity, a large number of containers having various design structures and configurations have been developed, primarily for specific applications, to contain food products in a manner which allows their cooking and/or heating in a conventional microwave oven. Naturally, to accomplish this, the material from which the container is formed must be permeable to microwaves and not include metallic material as a component part thereof. Typically, such containers are made from a paperboard type of material which is used to support relatively small amounts of food defining perhaps one or two servings of given food product. While larger plates or cooking vessels do exist which are capable of use in microwave ovens, such as glass, plastic, etc., such containers are not disposable and require storage and washing as do conventional cooking containers or vessels.
It is acknowledged that disposable aluminum foil type pans or containers do exist for "one time" containment and cooking of the larger food products but clearly, because of the material from which such pans are formed, they do not lend themselves to microwave cooking which is highly desirable in many instances.
Examples of prior art containers, packages, cooking vessels, etc. are evidenced in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. Kuchenbecker, 4,592,914, discloses a two blank disposable container for microwave food cooking which while certainly operable to cook or heat food products by the exposure to microwaves is of a lightweight design and would not be capable of holding larger food products such as turkeys, roasts, etc. Mikulski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,148, discloses a package for frozen foods and microwave heating of such frozen foods. This structure is capable of initially storing the food product for consumer purchase and freezing before and after such purchase, as well as allowing such food product to be exposed to microwaves in a conventional oven.
The patent to Daniels, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,249, discloses a package and method of microwave heating of a food product which includes a plurality of components at least some of which are removable. Watkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,368, discloses a food heating container of relatively large design but which is designed to package cold food products which allows heating of such products through the exposure to microwaves in a conventional microwave oven. Further, this structure discloses a food containing a food containing covered dish being disposed within a carton which is maintained in their relative positions both for refrigeration and heating of the food product.
McGonigle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,174, discloses a method and a structure for storing and cooking a convenience type "quick" meal in either a microwave oven or a conventional oven and includes various chambers for separation of the food products along with a removable lid structure. Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,915, similarly shows a microwave structure capable of both maintaining the food in a protected position during refrigeration or freezing as well as containing such food products during the heating or cooking by use of conventional microwave ovens.
While the above prior art structures are representative of numerous types of cooking vessels and storage containers, they generally are all of a lightweight construction capable of holding relatively small portions of food. The structures of the type disclosed above are not intended to hold conventionally larger amounts of food products such as a turkey typically cooked in the United States during holidays such as Thanksgiving or a large ham, roast, etc. There is, therefore, a need in this area for a disposable container which is capable of use for the adequate support and cooking of a large food product, of the type set forth above, in a microwave oven and further, wherein such container is disposable yet strong enough to support the cooked food for serving or the like.